Apple and Cinnamon
by dbswldnjs
Summary: Liete is tired of living in fear of him. Seto just wants somebody to talk to. They are both tired of being alone. Can they make it work? SetoxOC, rated T for safety.
1. Intro: Liete Mortar

"I hate Seto Kaiba."

Liete looked up from her textbook to see her best friend and room-mate Sabrina fly into the room madder than a hornet, kicking over the basket of freshly folded laundry on her way by.

"I just folded that..." Liete frowned, removing her reading glasses. "What happened now?"

Sabrina threw herself onto the couch behind Liete. "He's an ass that's what."

"Details dear."

"Well." Sabrina took in a deep breath. "We were in math class and Joey and I were stuck on a really difficult assignment, you know, something about the Pythagoras Theory."

"Pythagorean Theorem." She corrected.

"Whatever. Anyways, as I was saying, Joey and I were having a very difficult time with it when Mr. Big Shot Kaiba started taunting us, saying that even an idiot could figure that out and we should just give up and go work part-time at the grocery store because that's "as good as we will ever get."

Judging by how fired up Sabrina was getting, Liete could tell that this was not going to end well.

"So Joey stood up and told him to bite his tongue because not everyone is good at math and then Kaiba told him to get out of his face and told me to go back to my corner."

"Oh Sabrina you didn't... What did you do?"

"I told him to say it to my face. So he walked up to me, looked me right in the eye and called me a whore. So I punched him in the face and broke his nose. Now I'm suspended for two weeks, and Joey is suspended for one. Kaiba got off with a warning and a slap on the wrist, go figure. The end."

Liete groaned and began massaging her temple with her fingers.

Ever since she moved to Domino three months ago, things have been just as hectic as they were back home.

Sabrina had been looking for a room-mate, and it just so happened that Liete was looking for a place to stay, so they got in touch with one another and instantly hit it off.

I guess you could say they were "Best friends at first sight."

She had met Sabrina's boyfriend Joey Wheeler a few times, and had only recently began seeing her other friends as well, even though she had nothing in common with them.

They were very good acquaintances.

Since day one Sabrina has made it more than clear how much she hates Seto Kaiba, the CEO of Kaiba Corp and quite possibly the richest, most hateful man in all the world..

"Sabrina... You know what I'm going to say." She began, turning herself around to face her friend.

"Don't!" She cried, sitting up. "I don't want to hear it!

"You can't keep fighting people like that, especially Mr. Kaiba." Liete began. "You won't make it far in school if you keep it up, it seems that every second week you're getting suspended or stuck in detention..."

Sabrina narrowed her eyes. "So?"

"So? By lashing out you're just making yourself look bad and you're making Mr. Kaiba look like a prince."

"Stop calling him Mr. Kaiba. From now on in this house he is to be called "Asshole."

Liete rolled her eyes. "I will do no such thing. You know I'm right..."

"Maybe..."

She knew that she had won this argument, as she did every other one, and turned back to her Biology textbook.

"I'm going upstairs to vent to Joey." Sabrina called, bounding through the living room and up the stairs. "I will re-fold the laundry later!"

Turning back to her textbook she tried to focus on her school work but she was too distracted by the conversation she had just had with Sabrina.

The two girls were polar opposites, but yet they somehow connected very well.

Sabrina was 18-years old, while Liete was 17. Both girls were in the same grade as Joey and his friends because Sabrina failed school twice while Liete dropped out of school just a few months in, so when she moved to Domino she had to repeat a year.

Sabrina was very tall, and slim, with long thick curly blonde hair.

Her eyes were the colour of emeralds while her skin was pale white like the snow.

Sabrina was a very attractive girl who preferred to dress like a tomboy, wearing ripped jeans, band T-shirts and hoodies and was either found on a skate-board or running her mouth off.

Liete however, was about the same height as Sabrina's friend Tea, with very tanned skin.

Her hair fell just above her waist and was as straight as a pin with lots of layers.

While she has a pretty flat stomach, her waist wasn't as thin and her breasts and thighs were double the size of most girls in her school.

She was very comfortable in her body, even though the other girls in her gym class all gasped when they weighed themselves for an assignment and discovered that Liete weighed 140lbs, 20lbs more than most of them!

Liete preferred to wear cute dresses or classy skirts, wearing skinny jeans only with ballet flats and a button up blouse or dress shirt.

She was considered normal where she used to live, but here a lot of people considered her to be "overweight."

Liete felt a heavy sadness weight itself upon her.

She was rather homesick.

Back in her hometown, Liete never spoke to anyone.

She couldn't speak to anyone.

Her last full year back in her home was spent locked away in her apartment, sealed off from the world.

Her only means of communication were her laptop that sat in the corner of the livingroom and her cellphone.

But she was too afraid to use either device, so she kept them turned off and unplugged.

Her only company was the television and the various novels she had gathered over the years.

'I wonder if he is still out there...' She wondered, as she began to shade in the diagram of the digestive system she had laid out in front of her.

He had ruined her life after all. It was because of him that she was so scared, so withdrawn and closed off from the world.

He had prevented her from ever opening up to anyone.

He took away her friends, her family, her school.

He had destroyed everything she ever loved, and left her with nothing but fear.

'I hope he has forgotten about me... Whoever he is.'

She decided that she was done for the night and whatever school work she hadn't yet finished could wait until tomorrow morning.

When she went upstairs, Sabrina's light was off and she could hear her snoring loudly from the other side of the door.

"It's only 8:55PM.." She laughed, changing into her pajama's and then quietly tiptoeing downstairs to re-fold the laundry that Sabrina had every so gratefully destroyed on her.

Before she went to sleep however, she had logged onto Facebook for the first time in almost a year and made herself a new account, under Liete Alexandria, using her middle name and not her last the name.

"Now let's just pray nobody from my old town finds me on here..." She whispered as she searched for her new friends here in Domino City.

While she was browsing through the list, one name stood out more than the others.

* * *

_"Liete Alexandria wants to be your friend."_

"Who the hell is Liete?"

Seto Kaiba turned on his laptop after a hard, long and exhausting day at work to see he had left his Facebook open, and now had 22 friend requests from various people he had never met.

_"6 mutual friends. Sabrina Frasier, Joey Wheeler, Tristan "Coolman" Taylor, Tea Gardner, Duke Devlin, and Carol Fisher."_

"Whatever. I already have the other losers on here, might as well add the rest of them." He growled, clicking "accept" before switching to his email account.

His day went from bad to worse in a matter of seconds no thanks to the Whore, Sabrina.

First, he found out that one of his employees was stealing equipment from under his nose and had done so for months, then after a heated argument in Math class he ended up in the hospital with a broken nose. To top it all off, he lost an important business deal because he was late for the meeting as a result of the hospital being backed up, and Mokuba had come down with the flu.

While he was typing out a strongly worded letter to the principal as to why Sabrina should be expelled permanently, he heard the "pop" sound of an incoming Facebook message.

"Now how wants to irritate me?"

Clicking on the message he could see that it was from this new girl he recently added.

_"Dear Mr. Kaiba,"_ It read.

_"I am truly sorry to bother you like this but I would just like to apologize to you for Sabrina's inappropriate behavior today. She can be very hard to handle and her temper sometimes gets the best of her so I figured it was my job as not only her friend but her room-mate to apologize to you myself and to let you know that if I have my way she will not be causing you any more trouble from now on. Once again I am truly sorry to waste your time and I hope that you can learn to forgive her in the future, even though she did break your nose._

_-Liete Mortar."_

Seto sneered. He didn't know who this, Liete person was but if she honestly thought he cared about her apology than she was truly as dumb as the rest of them.

Reading her message over and over a few more times, thinking of a rude way to reply to her and let her know that he meant business, he instead began to calm down, but only slightly.

After reading the message for a fourth time he went and closed the email he was writing, and chose to be the better person and not ruin Frasier's chances at ever getting a decent education.

He figured that she would just ruin it for herself anyway.

And besides, this woman took the time to apologize to him for something she didn't even do, and she was surprisingly polite about it, so he figured he should act like a professional as well.

'I hate this Facebook thing. That's the last time I let Mokuba talk me into doing something.' He said as he typed out a reply.

_"Thanks for your apology. Keep your friend away from me and I won't ruin her life."_

He thought it was the perfect response. He got his point across and he wasn't rude nor was he nice.

After sending the reply he logged out of Facebook, hopefully for good, and turned his attention to his Kaiba Corp work. Seeing as he was tied up at the hospital he fell far behind and needed to catch up, which possibly meant an all nighter and no school for him tomorrow.

"This is what I get for going to school and trying to be normal."

* * *

*Liete is pronounced LEE-EH-TAY


	2. Biology

Liete was definitely a morning person.

She loved starting her day as early as possible, which made school no problem at all.

She was awake, showered and dressed by 7am and by 7:30 she had eaten her breakfast, brushed her teeth and was on her way to school.

Sabrina and Liete lived in a small two-bedroom house that Sabrina's Grandmother had left for her before she passed away.

The two girls worked part-time jobs to pay their bills, and to put food on their plates.

They didn't need much, as the house was completely paid off in full, but they did need to pay for lights and internet as well as for their individual cell phones.

Because their house was so far away from the school, Liete always left at 7:30 to make sure that she arrived by at least 8:15, that way she could get in some extra study time before class.

Because it was so early, Liete was the only one on the street beside the occasional person jogging or walking their dog.

Very few cars passed her on the street, and those who did were most likely people on their way to work.

"I can't believe that winter is almost here." She said, wrapping her arms tightly around her textbooks. She wore the usual Domino High school uniform, which was a bright pink blazer and a blue skirt that was too short for her liking.

Overtop she wore a cream coloured cardigan and made sure to wear thick leggings under her skirt to keep her legs warm, and to make the uniform a bit more comfortable to wear.

She giggled at the thought of snow. "I hope Sabrina celebrates Christmas. If she doesn't, I'll be sure to force her to!"

She remembered last year how everyone was out caroling, hanging up their decorations and flying through the stores to get ready for the holiday season, while she sat alone in her apartment watching through a small gap between her curtains.

A few teachers and students from school sent Christmas cards to her PO Box, while one of the police officers who she had frequent encounters with had stopped by to deliver a basket of home-baked goods and Christmas presents she had purchased, hoping to cheer up the lonely girl.

She sometimes wore the necklace the officer had given her.

As she passed the front gates leading into the school yard, something glimmering in the sunlight caught her eye.

"Oh gee what's this?" She wondered, walking over towards the gate.

There, stuck in some long grass she could see a Duel Monsters card, flapping in the wind.

"Oh neato!" She exclaimed, plucking the damp card from it's resting place, being careful not to damage it.

Liete didn't play Duel Monsters, nor did she have any desire to learn, but she did think the cards were very pretty.

"Blue Eyes... White Dragon." She read, flipping the card over. It was a very beautiful dragon, with piercing blue eyes and shiny silver skin.

It looked extremely rare.

"Perhaps I should ask Joey about this later, when I see him next." She thought, placing the card between the pages of her Chemistry textbook and continuing on her way towards the school.

If she couldn't use the card, perhaps she could find someone who could?

* * *

"What do you mean you can't find it?!"

The young CEO of Kaiba Corp spat at the large group of men in black suits that had accumulated in front of him.

"We-we're sorry sir. We've looked everywhere and we can't find your Blue Eyes White Dragon card." One of them stammered, shrinking back in fear.

They were at least four times his age but he was definitely more intimidating than all of them put together.

His anger made them all quake in fear.

"Well I suggest you look harder!" He yelled, slamming his hands down on his desk. "I want that card found before some idiot trainer gets his hands on it!"

"Yes sir Kaiba sir!" They all screamed in unison before scrambling out the door.

Seto shrunk back into his seat, resisting the urge to rip the hair right out of his skull.

"I can't believe I lost it." He muttered. "How can I be so stupid?"

That morning, Seto Kaiba took advantage of a free period to get some work done at Kaiba Corp before he went to school. His limo had broken down a few blocks from Kaiba

Corp, right in front of the school, so he had to walk the rest of the way, not that he minded.

He enjoyed the smell of the morning air, the fact that the streets of Domino were so quiet and there was no one around to bother him.

On his way, he had taken out his dueling deck and began to sort through his cards. It had been some time since he updated his deck and he needed to pick out and get rid of the useless cards and replace them with some more powerful ones.

"I need to analyze Yugi's deck closer." He said to himself as his fingers ran over the cards in his hands. "I should make my deck so each card can counter one of Yugi's cards, especially the ones that he uses often, like the Dark Magician."

Seto was so preoccupied in his thoughts that he failed to notice the man running in front of him and the two almost collided.

Almost.

He had noticed a second before they hit one another and managed to side-step out-of-the-way, but in the process half of his Duel Monsters deck had fallen out of his hands and onto the cold pavement at his feet.

He had thought he gathered up all the cards, but in his haste he missed one very important card.

One of his three Blue Eyes White Dragon cards.

Getting up from his desk he stormed across the room and grabbed his bag and blazer off the couch before pressing the button for the elevator.

"I can't focus on Kaiba Corp in this state." He growled, stepping into the elevator. "If those fools don't have my card by the time I return from school, I will be livid."

* * *

"Alright class, after you learn all these 'proper Biology terms', you must use them at all times during this class understood? That means a white blood cell will be referred to as a leukocyte. Is that in any way unclear?"

"No ma'am!"

"Good. Now turn to page 394. Do the assignment that's on the page, remember to write the questions as well as the answers, and use the proper terms for each word. It is due by the end of tomorrow."

Liete had somehow survived another gym class. They were playing floor hockey and even though she is in decent shape she isn't very competitive and the girls in her class are brutal at best.

She escaped with only a few bruises on her legs and a scrape on her elbow.

After gym she had Chemistry and now she was in her favourite class, Biology.

She thoroughly enjoyed science classes, mostly because she thought them to be very important classes, but also because she wanted to take Nursing in University and she needed to be as ready as humanly possible.

"Ms.. Mortar."

Liete looked up to see her teacher looking at her through her thick rimmed glasses.

"Can you please bring Ms.. Frasier her assignments, both late and recent?" She asked, using her index finger to slide her glasses back up her nose.

"Of course." Liete replied with a smile. "I was going to even if you hadn't asked me."

"I'm glad. Make sure she does her work please, Ms.. Mortar." The teacher had said before turning her attention to a boy named Tristan who was caught eating a burrito under his desk.

Focusing her attention back to her work she began to memorize all the terms and definitions that were displayed on the page the teacher had assigned them to read, as well as the diagram which was sure to be on the next test.

'I hope I can remember all these...' She gulped, as she began writing them down in her notebook. 'I need to, or else I might fail.'

During the assignment, the door to the classroom had swung open and heavy footsteps could be heard walking across the room.

The room fell silent and everyone began to whisper to themselves.

Normally Liete couldn't be torn away from her homework even if her life depended on it, but with all the commotion she couldn't help but sneak a glance at the figure approaching her.

When she raised her eyes, she caught sight of Seto Kaiba himself taking a seat right beside her, with such a hateful look on his face it was no wonder everyone fell silent when he entered.

"Good morning Mr. Kaiba." The teacher said without even taking a glance at him. "Seeing as you are late you may get the task at hand from one of the students as I tire of repeating myself."

She could hear him curse under his breath before she felt his cold eyes on her.

"Give me the assignment so I can get it over and done with." He grumbled, flinging open his notebook.

Liete raised an eyebrow. Who did he think he was, talking to her like that?

She had always heard nasty things about him from Sabrina, and she had simply assumed them to be exaggerated telling's of hers, but now she realizes the could have very well been accurate down to the last word.

"Turn to page 394, Mr. Kaiba." She said, leaning over and flipping the pages for him. Luckily she landed on the correct page without even trying. "She wants us to copy down these terms and definitions and memorize them, and then complete the assignment here using these terms. We have to use them during this class for the rest of the year as well or she will mark us down."

"Hm. Thanks." He said, picking up his pen and hurriedly scribbling down notes.

'At least he takes his school seriously.' Liete thought, turning back to her own work.

Growing up, she never had much. She had enough to keep her going but, not as many 'extras' as most kids did.

Her mother made her clothes, or bought them second-hand as they were cheaper. She also couldn't afford such luxuries as cell phones, video game systems or toys so Liete just got the simple things like pencil, paper and paint.

Liete never even had her own cellphone until last year.

She was fine with the way she was brought up, she didn't need much to keep her happy.

Because she never had as much as other kids growing up she always strived to do good in school so that she could get a better education and start a better life for not only her, but her family as well.

She studied hard, never missed an assignment and always took extra curricular when she was given the chance.

When she turned 15 she got a part-time job and saved every penny she ever made until her mother's terminal cancer finally took her life on her 16th birthday.

She was sent to live with an Aunt after that, because she had no siblings and never knew who her real father was, but when her life started to take a turn for the worse her aunt abandoned her for the safety of her children and boyfriend, leaving Liete on her own.

She hated being alone, but it was better that way.

If she had nobody, he couldn't hurt them.

It pained her to see people take things such as free education and money for granted.

That was why she was so hard on Sabrina.

"Hey..."

Tearing her eyes away from her pages she turned to the right to see Seto Kaiba looking over at her with a look of confusion and anger.

"I don't understand question 3."

"That's because you weren't here when we learned that."

"Well I know that!"

Leaning back in her chair she stared him down, debating whether she should help him or just leave him.

'I can't leave him stranded.' She decided. 'It wouldn't be fair..'

Sighing she flipped through her notes until she found the correct pages, tearing them out she folded them and handed them over to Seto.

"These are the notes you missed. I don't need them back I already have it memorized." She told him.

Once the pages were safely in his hands she turned back to her own work.

"Yeah, thanks." He mumbled, turning away from her.

Liete couldn't help but chuckle slightly. He was still normal even with all that money, and that ego.

* * *

After class, Seto was even more angry than when he had left Kaiba Corp.

He was late for Math, and when the teacher had tried to scold him he simply shot him a look which let him know he had better keep his mouth shut or else. His wife did work in Kaiba Corp head office after all.

Afterwards the dweebs had bothered him relentlessly between math and biology, inviting him to their little get together at Yugi's place.

"Like I would waste my time parading around with you losers." He spat. "I have more important things to do, like running a company!"

When he had entered biology, he was fifteen minutes late because he got tied up on the phone with Mokuba's teacher, asking why he had been absent all week.

The biology teacher was no help to him either, refusing to fill him in on what he missed simply because she "didn't feel like explaining herself again."

Thankfully the woman beside him told him what to do, and even gave him her notes from yesterday and the day before that.

He had never seen her before, he didn't even know her name, despite being in the sam bio class as her for three months and sitting right beside her.

'I don't need to waste time remembering the names of those who aren't important.' He told himself. 'I have enough problems as it is.'

When people see Seto Kaiba in the streets of Domino they whisper such things like,

_"What a lucky guy to be adopted by Gozaburo Kaiba!"_

and

_"It must be lucky to have all that money!"_

When in reality, they have no idea how hard it is to be in his shoes.

He grew up with no parents, and his adopted father wasn't exactly what one would call a loving father.

Seto was forced to raise and support his little brother from a very early age, and ended up taking over and running a multi-billion dollar company.

On top of that, he also has school to attend.

Many people have asked him why he bothers to go to school when he has enough money to live off until he dies.

His answer? Simple!

He doesn't want to be that kind of guy.

Something could happen someday and he could lose it all.

His job, his company, his money, everything!

So he wants to keep up his education to not only benefit himself but his brother as well.

'I'm not going to allow myself to become brainless simply because I have a fat wallet.' He tells himself, practically every day. 'I must remain as human as possible, for Mokuba.'

Mokuba was really the only person he ever had in his life.

Seto was too busy to make friends, to go to social gatherings and party with the others. When he wasn't at school, or home taking care of Mokuba, he was watching over fourty-thousand workers, and operating one of the largest companies in the entire world.

Many people just assume that he thinks he is too good to talk to other people, that he is above them and they are not worth his time.

That is not true at all.

He wants nothing more than to have a friend he can confide in when things get tough, or somebody to just simply hang out with on rainy days or during the rare day off he has.

Instead he has nobody but Mokuba.

His hectic schedule prevents him from socializing, and even if the opportunity ever came, what would he say?

He was never really good as socializing. He tried his hardest to talk to others but in the end everything just comes out harsh sounding and rude.

He even considered inviting Yugi over to watch a movie with him last Saturday, but his pride got the better of him.

He didn't want to appear weak in front of his greatest rival.

Looking down at his biology assignment he almost wanted to jump out the window and run all the way home.

Due to many problems at Kaiba Corp, Seto had been missing a lot of school and as a result he was falling behind.

He had never had that happen before. He always got straight A's, and even though he had a full schedule he somehow managed to get assignments in on time.

Lately he had many overdue assignments, passing them in half completed and even just simply giving up and tossing them aside.

He easily got caught up in his other classes. Math was no problem at all, he did math practically every second of every day, and gym was basic cardio and sports.

He had one free period each day, usually before biology, and then he had English and history, both which were easy classes.

What he struggled with the most was biology.

The teacher was an expert, an ex-scientist of some sort, and moved at a very fast pace.

She had told them, anyone who has trouble keeping up should just drop out.

She lost half her class that week.

There was so much studying, so many terms, labels, definitions and just so much of it in general that he had a hard time squeezing time to study into his schedule.

Even though the work was difficult he had always managed to pull it off.

It was getting a hold of the missing notes, assignments and major projects he had trouble with.

"All assignments, overdue and recent are due at the end of this month, absolutely no exceptions!" She had announced last week, resulting in a chorus of groans and cries from the students.

Part of him wanted to give up, while the rest of him ordered him to keep trying.

'Seto Kaiba doesn't give up.'' He told himself.

Looking around the room he could see that other kids had confused faces as well, while others were pretty calm and seemed to know what they were doing.

Then he saw the woman beside him.

She was completely entranced in what she was doing.

Her eyes, seemingly fixed, never left the page once, even when she jotted down notes or scribbled her answer into the blank.

He could see that she had almost all the assignment done and was just finishing up the last of her diagram.

'How did she do that so fast?' He wondered.

Everyone else in the class was barely half way through it while she had it entirely finished.

As she placed her pencil down on the desk she let out a big cat stretch before reaching a small hand into the bag at her feet and pulling out a novel.

"Finished, Ms. Mortar?" The teacher asked from across the room.

"Yup."

"Bring it here please."

All the students raised their heads to watch her walk up and hand in the assignment to the teacher, who after giving it a few quick glances nodded her head and said "You may read for the rest of class."

'She seems to be really smart when it comes to this stuff.' Seto thought, tapping the end of his pen on his chin. 'I hate to ask, but I won't get far unless I do.'

"Excuse me." He whispered.

She glanced over at him from her novel.

"Can I borrow your notes?"

She raised an eyebrow. "You want my notes?"

He nodded.

She studied his face for a few seconds before sliding her notebook off her desk and handing it over to him.

"You can keep it as long as you like, I have a spare." She told him with a smile. "Just make sure I get it back before the end of the year."

He said nothing but simply nodded in her direction before flipping her book open.

'She's a very neat and organized person...' He thought, completely amazed at how smooth her writing was and how the entire page seemed to be evenly spaced and very clean. 'She must take pride in her work.'

* * *

*I edited my story based on the few reviews and messages I received.

Please let me know what you think!  
I take all criticism very seriously.

*Liete is pronounced LEE-EH-TAY


	3. Mokuba Kaiba

Liete saw even less of Seto Kaiba over next few weeks as he seemed spend all his time stuck in his office, while a man named Roland came to collect his projects so that he wouldn't fall too far behind.

As usual, the teacher asked her to make copies of her notes for him, not that she minded of course. She made sure to make them extra-neat and well organized so that he would have no problem reading them.

This week, her advanced math class was assigned to tutor students who were struggling in math at a nearby Junior high school. The thought of teaching made Liete rather giddy with excitement.

'I am going to coach this kid to stardom!' She told herself as they entered the classroom. 'This kid is going to excel in mathematics by the time I'm through with him or my name isn't Liete Alexandria Mortar III!'

When the students had entered the room, they were met by two dozen terrified, curious, and unhappy gazes from children between the ages of 12 and 14. They all looked absolutely petrified, as if the thought of teenagers 4-years their senior, helping them with their math homework was the most terrifying thought since going to the dentist!

"I have assigned the students to their tutors according to their grades." The advanced math teacher told everyone with a stern voice and a very noticable scowl. "The best student will be assigned to the worst student, the second best will be assigned to the second worst and it will go down the list just as so. Now class, come collect the name of your student, as well as their grades and what they need to improve on. This project will last no longer than a week, and it counts as a large chunk of your grade so make sure you take it seriously. It will also prepare you for your future endeavors. Don't forget that you must write a progress report for. That is all."

Her advanced math teacher, and the junior high math teacher were twin sisters. That would explain why this project even exists. The two of them stood about 6'3 and had dark brown hair speckled with grey pulled back into a perfect bun at the nape of their necks. Liete's advanced math teacher wore a light blue blouse tucked into a black skirt with leggings and what looked like army boots, while her sister matched her outfit exactly except her blouse was white.

Standing there together, eying the children as they did was very nerve-racking.

"Liete Mortar." Her teacher called, staring down at her through angry, wrinkled eyes. "Strangely enough, you are my best student which is somewhat difficult to believe. However, you are being assigned to tutor the worst student in the junior high-class."

After accepting the paper, with the list of things he needs help with she had to hold back a gasp. This boy had only a 47% in this class, and he failed the last 9 assignments. He refuses any help from the teacher, who even took the liberty of leaving a side note stating that he seems "severely depressed which is compromising his ability in school."

Liete was rather angry at her teacher now. The fact that she basically called out the worst kid in the class and most likely made him feel a lot worse than he most likely already does made her blood boil.

And she barely ever got worked up.

Looking around the room she had no trouble finding which student was hers, not because of the nametags neatly placed on each desk, but because he sat at the back of the room with a look that was so sad it almost brought tears to her eyes.

"Mokuba?" She asked with a smile. The boy looked up through messy black bangs with sad eyes.

"That's me..." He sighed. "Are you my tutor?"

She nodded. "Yup! My names Liete. Nice to meet you!"

He instantly looked slightly more cheerful.

* * *

_ "Seto, I'm failing math. They're assigning me a tutor. :("_

Seto glanced at the text for the hundredth time, wishing desperately that he could respond but due to the fact that he was in a meeting, he was unable to do so.

'I promise when I get home I am going to help you.' He said, slipping his phone back into his pocket. 'You can't fail math. You love math..'

After the meeting, instead of heading back to Kaiba Corp, he instead drove himself to school to finish the last two and a half classes he had left.

As usual, he walked in halfway through Biology. The first thing he noticed when he walked in was that everyone was dressed like surgeons, cutting apart the carcass of an animal.

The second thing that he noticed was that the girl who sat next to him, his primary source of notes and information, was absent.

'But she's never absent...' He pondered with a frown.

His teacher shot him a look and then passed him a very old and clearly used face mask and gloves and pointed to the table with Joey, Sabrina and Yugi.

"Oh great." He growled, snatching the materials from his teachers hands.

As he approached the group, he noticed that Sabrina and Joey were sitting together on one side gossiping and drawing things on the back of their work sheet, while Yugi did all the work.

"At least somebody has enough dignity to do some work around here." He smirked, taking a seat next to the little man.

He looked up at Seto with big curious eyes.

"Oh hey Kaiba. Yeah, they're apparently busy so, I figured If I'm not included in their conversation I might as well do some work."

Seto tossed the face mask and gloves, he figured that was what soap and hot water was used for.

"What is our assignment, Yugi?"

* * *

"... so if you take 6 positive, and add 4 negative to them, you are only left with two positive."

Mokuba stared at the blocks she had placed on the table with an expression of awe.

One assignment that he had done horribly on was one involving positives and negatives. In order to help him understand better, she taught him the method her previous teacher had used on her.

She took two different coloured blocks, green to represent positive and red for negative, and demonstrated what happens when you put two of them together.

"I never thought of this before!" He said, quickly scribbling down notes and drawing a diagram of his own, using blocks.

"Once you use this for a while it becomes more easy for you." She said, patting him on the hand. "See, this isn't so hard?"

For a split second she could have sworn that he looked guilty but the bright smile he held after made her think she was only imagining things.

"Thank you so much !" He yelled. "I can't believe you made me understand all of this."

Liete smiled down at him. "You're welcome, Mokuba, and please just call me Liete. I'm too young to be a Miss!"

The bell rang signalling the end of class, as well as the end of her tutoring with Mokuba.

She walked with him outside, and he did nothing less than talk her ear off the entire time.

"When I grow up I want to be the best duelist in the entire world just like my big brother!" He beamed, skipping happily beside her.

He was no taller than her ribcage, and she couldn't tell if it was because he was tall for his age or she was just short for hers.

"Do you play Duel Monsters, Liete?" He asked, looking up with his big eyes sparkling with excitement. It seems that everyone in this town seems to really enjoy  
Duel Monsters, even the young ones.

She shook her head. "Nope. It's never really been my thing." She admitted, readjusting the books in her hands. "Everyone here seems to rather enjoy it however. I do feel a bit strange, being the only one in this town without a Duel Monsters deck."

"Your accent is so cool." He laughed, kicking a rock that was in front of him. "Where are you from?" he asked.

It was the first time anyone had actually made a comment on her accent since she moved here. She had just naturally assumed that everyone was used to it.

'Should I say anything?' She wondered, playing with the end of her pony tail. 'I suppose there's no harm in just, telling him what Country I'm from.'

"No wait, don't tell me." He laughed. "I like the mystery."

It wasn't like she was endangering her life by telling an innocent 13-year old where she was born, but at the same time she swore that she wouldn't let anyone in Domino City know a single detail about her past life, no matter how small the detail.

She just didn't want to risk it.

"Alright, well let me know if you change your mind." She joked. "So do you usually walk home by yourself?"

She had noticed that he was one of the only ones who didn't have a parent personally come to pick him up from school, nor did she see any sign of this infamous big brother of his that he has done nothing but talk about.

"Well." He began, pulling his book bag up. "Usually, my brother has the limo driver come pick me up."

"Limo?"

Mokuba nodded. "Yeah, Roland, our limo driver. But I texted him halfway through last class and told him I'd rather walk home with you. I'm pretty sure Roland is lurking around here somewhere, making sure I'm safe, but hey walking is so much more fun than driving!"

His innocence and enthusiastic outlook on life made Liete envy the young man. He seemed so care-free and cheerful, it made her happy to be around him. It seemed that dispite his poor grades, he was doing a lot better than she was at the age of thirteen.

"You know, you're rather fun to hang around with." She admitted. "Much more fun than my other friends, that's for sure!"

"Really?!" A big grin spread across his face. "It's because I'm so cool isn't it?"

"Definitely."

The two of them continued walking a few more blocks, all the while Mokuba told her stories about his big brother in Duel Monsters tournaments, and how he saved his life more than once using his quick thinking, awesome-ness and Dueling skills.

He seemed to be really proud of his older brother and spoke of him both highly and affectionately.

"Well it seems like your big brother is quite the man." She giggled. "Unless you're exaggerating."

"No way! Not even a little!" He stomped his foot and began jumping around. "My brother is the coolest! Here's my stop though..."

Liete turned and glanced up at the Kaiba Corp building that towered over the two of them.

"You are going here?" She asked bewildered. She understood that Mokuba was only 13, and that he really seemed to love playing Duel Monsters, but for a kid his age to be walking into a multi-billion dollar company all by himself? That was unsafe!

"Yup! My big brother is waiting for me here, don't worry I'll be okay." He said, walking towards the door. "Thanks for all your help!" He said, giving her a very quick hug around the waist and then rushing inside, right passed security and the receptionist.

She waited until she could no longer see him through the glass doors before the turned to leave.

"I wonder if his brother works there." She wondered, stopping briefly to re-adjust her bag and books before continuing on. "I sure hope so. I don't feel right leaving him here."

He did pass security with no problem at all, and the receptionist didn't even give him a second glance as he ran passed her, through the big double doors at the back, so Liete assumed he was in good hands and tried to push her worried thoughts to the back of her mind as she walked the rest of the way home.

* * *

Seto was busy in the middle of a phone call with Maximillion Pegasus for the four-thousandth time this week and he was in a very foul mood.

He had an unfortunate run-in with Pegasus about a year ago, which almost resulted in him losing both his little brother and his company, and since then he's mad minor encounters with him from time to time.

Lately, Pegasus has been more than persistent about getting his hands on a share of Kaiba Corp, which Seto makes sure him and Mokuba have 100% control of, and has harassed him with phone calls, representatives randomly showing up at the door as well as emails, letters and text messages.

"For the last time, Pegasus you snake, you will never get your hands on my company as long as I am alive!" He yelled, his temper finally at it's breaking point.

He could hear him laughing on the other end. "Be careful what you say Kaiba boy." He laughed. "I can easily arrange that."

After yelling some more profanity through the phone he slammed it down on the desk, sending the entire phone flying onto the floor in a tangled heap. However even that wasn't good enough, for Seto stormed across the room and ripped the phone jack right out of the wall.

Pressing the button on his intercom he yelled into the other end. "This is Kaiba. If Maximillion Pegasus, or anybody from his company shows up, calls or sends you any emails you are to tell him to go to hell, and please_ don't_ forward any messages he may leave on to me. Is that in any way unclear?!"

He received a panicked slur of words from the other end before the line went dead.

Throwing himself into his spinning chair he slammed his face right into the palm of his hands. Lately has been the most stressful time in his life and Seto was having a hell of a time trying to sort everything out.

He was missing far too much school, and even received a letter in the mail explaining that if his attendance didn't pick up he would be expelled, even though he funds most of the school from his own pocket!

Although, he can't exactly blame him. They're just simply doing their job, and he shouldn't expect any special treatment from them, even if he feels as though he deserves it.

The worst part about his life right now is he can't even see his little brother as much as he wants. Seto is long gone before Mokuba's alarm goes off in the morning, and when he gets home from school he is usually cooped up at work until sometimes as late as midnight! And by then, his little brother has long since went to bed.

Last night, Seto arrived home at 2:30am from work and found Mokuba, asleep sitting in the lazy boy, with a picture of a Blue Eyes White Dragon he had drawn in art class clutched between his fingers. The words "To Seto, Love Mokie!" were written on the top in his sloppy handwriting, and he had even taken the liberty of setting out the Play Station with his favourite game, "Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly" in it.

Seto had promised him the night before that when he got home he would help him through a level and that the two of them would spend the entire night together. Like most nights, he had been so busy with work he had completely forgotten.

His heart broke at the sight of his little brother sitting there that once he got him tucked into his bed and had turned off all the lights, he cried for almost an hour in his room.

And Seto Kaiba _never_ cried.

He was just close to the breaking point, he could feel it. His job was killing him, he missed his little brother more than anything, and on top of that he was incredibly lonely and secretly wished he had a friend, someone he could confide in and open up to.

Most of all, he wanted a break from life.

* * *

The next day, Liete's advanced math class was sent to the Junior High right after lunch, and she spend an hour teaching Mokuba about fractions.

"You sure are a fast learner." She exclaimed. Mokuba caught on to everything she was teaching him lightning fast, and it made her wonder why he was doing so horribly just days ago.

Perhaps he just needed a better teacher? She often wondered what methods his math teacher used on her class.

"Liete, can I ask you something?" Mokuba asked her once the bell rang, signalling the end of their session for today.

"You can ask me anything sweetie." She said, handing him his pencil and notebook. "What's up?"

"Can I..." His face was beet red, and he wouldn't look her in the eye. "Can I.. I have your number?"

Was she being 'picked up' by a 13-year old?

"I might need help on my homework!" He yelled. "And, if I want to talk to anyone about anything, I know I have you to talk to. So, can I?"

"Well of course!" She said, tearing a strip of paper out of her binder and writing her number down, as well as the correct spelling of her name. "We're friends, right?"

She did feel a little weird, giving her mobile number to someone she really just met, especially someone so young but she convinced herself that no harm could come out of it.

He smiled up at her. "Of course! Oh boy this is gonna be great!"

The bus ride back to High School was very quick, and Liete had to rush to catch the last 46 minutes of gym class. Today was Friday, which meant she had gym last.

And she hated gym.

Not because she wasn't very athletic, no she was extremely in shape nad good at sports for her size, it was simply the girls in her gym class that frightened her.

They looked at her, everyday, with scowls and frowns, and they spoke of her as if she were their next victim and it made her extremely nervous to have to play sports with them.

Thankfully today was simply workouts, such as push-ups, crunches and light jogging, so avoiding them and their stares was simple as long as she didn't raise her eyes or move around the room too much.

After class she pretty much flew out the doors, not wanting to run into anyone from her class in the halls, and went straight out the front doors.

She was the only girl in her gym class that didn't bother to waste half an hour re-applying her make-up and hairspray, so she was always the first one out the foor after the bell.

Liete didn't even wear make-up. It irritated her eyes and her skin and only made her breakout.

When she arrived home, she wasn't entirely surprised to find herself alone in her house. Sabrina was most likely at Joey's, or in detention once more.

After taking a quick shower and tidying up the place and dressed in a dark blue pair of skinny jeans, and wore a white blouse with a cream coloured sweater overtop.

Typing her stringy, wet hair up in a high pony tail she decided to go for a walk and enjoy the last few weeks of nice weather before the snow hit.

After living here for this long she was just starting to get a sense of where everything was in Domino City. Their house wasn't too far from the main part of town, and was just a few blocks away from a GAME shop, Kaiba Corp and a small family restaurant.

The arcade was quite the hike and so was the school, so she only went out of her way to go to those places when she absolutely needed to. The Junior High that Mokuba went to was much closer than her own school was.

"Sabrina and I really have nothing in common." She told herself, walking along the sidewalk. "I mean, we're completely different people. And even though she says we're 'best friends', I never even see her, unless she comes to school which rarely happens."

Liete let out a deep sigh. She was starting to feel alone lately and nothing she did made the feeling go away.

She spent the last few years of her life alone, and after moving to Domino and meeting Sabrina she finally felt happy. It was as if she had friends once more!

Now, she spends all her time with Joey at his place or out and about with his friends.

She had tried hanging out with the entire group a few times, but in the end she always made up some excuse to get out of it early and go home. They had nothing in common, and she never had fun when they hung out. They all tried to engage in conversation with her, teach her how to play Duel Monsters and once or twice Tea had tried to get to know her more but her questions were way too straight forward and made her uncomfortable.

"Maybe I should make more friends, people that have more in common with me." She asked herself, going out of her way to avoid an old man on bicycle who ignored her presence and continued to drive straight even though she was clearly walking right in front of him. "But where do I start? I can't just walk up to someone and say HEY BE MY FRIEND! I am so weird..."

Turning a corner, she found herself right outside of Kaiba Corp, the signature dragon-statue stared right at her with its lifeless eyes, sending shivers up her spine.

"It's surely fake but it's as if it can really see me." She laughed, crossing the street to get a better look at it. What a strange building it was, and whoever owned it must really like dragons because not only is there a large dragon statue out front, there's also a Kaiba Land theme park with many dragon themed-rides and prizes as well as a dragon shaped jet she can sometimes see flying over of the City.

"Maybe they have a dragon fetish." She laughed, turning on her heel to leave the area and go towards the mall. She took a few steps forward when the door rolled open and out strolled Mokuba and Seto Kaiba himself.

"..and then I said- oh Liete!" He yelled when he noticed her standing there. He ran around Seto Kaiba and wrapped himself around her waist, attempting to hug her.

She returned the hug. "Mokuba! Why hello again, fancy meeting you here." She laughed, patting the young man on the back. "What have you been up to since I last saw you two hours ago?"

"Oh, I've been here with my big brother waiting for him to finish work. I managed to get him to leave early." He grinned, rushing back over to Seto who stood there glaring down at her as if she were dirt beneath his feet.

Liete gave Seto a small wave. "Hello , It's nice to see you again." She said, making sure to be polite. She could tell by the look on his face he was even more angry than usual.

He made a strange humming noise and then gave a slight nod in her direction before walking towards and approaching limo, most likely his.

Mokuba turned back towards her with a smile. "Hey big brother, Liete is the tutor I told you about! She's helping me pass math!"

He stopped walking and glanced in her direction. His eyes scanned her up and down, from head to toe as if he were examining her, judging for himself if she was fit to teach his brother.

After a few seconds his expression softened only slightly and he opened the door to let his brother in. "I suppose if I would want anyone to help my little brother I would want it to be someone like you." He smirked, catching her off guard. She had heard a lot about him from the others and half expected him to lash out and bite her head off for even going near his brother.

Before getting in the limo himself, he gave her one last look over and then said. "You'd better teach him well." before getting in and slamming the door shut.

Liete stood there, completely baffled as the limo drove out of sight. It was only then that she snapped out of her trance and realized that Seto Kaiba had just spoken to her, and he had been almost-nice as well!

"Mokuba..Kaiba?" She repeated, tapping her chin in puzzlement. "I suppose I probably should have looked at his last name..."

* * *

*iloveyugiohGX93 asked me to use left-alignment when writing so I am giving it a shot! I'm not used to it so, I probably messed up but lemme know how it looks!

Everyone will know more about Sabrina in the future, don't worry! I know it seems like she has no part in my story, as many people have mentioned to me, but she will get more spotlight in due time.

Also, details about Liete herself as well as he past will gradually be revealed with each chapter. Many people seem to like the "foreshadowing" which is good!

Thank you to all who have PM'ed me and your kind words. ^_^

I take all reviews seriously, and without offense.

Liete is pronounced LEE-EH-TAY!


End file.
